BATTLE LINES ON FERC NOMINEE DRAWN: It’s not unusual for think tanks, lobbyists, PR firms and deep-pocketed foundations to draw battle lines when the president nominates a new agency head — unless the agency is an obscure regulatory body with an ungainly nickname like FERC. But Ron Binz’s nomination to chair the five-person Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is already breaking new ground as it becomes caught up in a larger struggle over the Obama administration’s policies on climate change, fossil fuels and Wall Street wrongdoing. Darius Dixon has a great read on the situation: http://politi.co/16ya71V

FRACKING FRIENDS, FOES PUMPED UP FOR OBAMA’S N.Y. TRIP: President Barack Obama is in upstate New York today to talk higher education — but advocates on both sides of the fracking debate are hoping to hijack the agenda for a bit. The president’s events today in Buffalo and Syracuse can expect to hear from those hoping to persuade New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to either continue or end the state’s moratorium on fracking. Proponents of the practice are hoping to get the president — who has been supportive of natural gas — to talk to Cuomo. “We would urge the president, a supporter of developing abundant U.S. shale oil and natural gas, to speak to New York’s elected officials and residents and reinforce the fact that hydraulic fracturing, a safe, proven process, can deliver jobs and economic vitality to the middle class,” New York State Petroleum Council Executive Director Karen Moreau said. ICYMI, Talia Buford wrote earlier this week about the issue: http://politico.pro/14WRvvx

JACKSON RETAINS LAWYER OVER EMAIL INQUIRY: Former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has retained the services of attorney Barry Coburn at Coburn & Greenbaum to aid in ongoing congressional inquiries into her email practices while at the agency, Coburn has confirmed to POLITICO. "Lisa Jackson has been a dedicated public servant who served her country honorably for over two decades. She has engaged in no wrongdoing of any kind. She is committed to responding appropriately to any inquiry initiated by any forum. We have offered to assist her in doing so," Coburn said in a statement. (h/t Washington Free Beacon, which first reported the news yesterday: http://bit.ly/16MFmcc)

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FOR FIRST TIME, WYOMING COAL LEASE SALE GETS NO INTEREST: Via the Casper Star-Tribune: “At 10 a.m. on Wednesday, U.S. Bureau of Land Management employees in Cheyenne gathered to unseal envelopes containing bids and checks from coal companies hoping to score the rights to dig in the Powder River Basin. But there were no envelopes to open. No companies bid on the coal lease, said BLM spokeswoman Beverly Gorny. ‘This is the first time it’s happened in Wyoming,’ she said. Minutes later, Gillette-based Cloud Peak Energy Inc., which had first asked the federal government to lease the coal tract nearly seven years ago, released a statement saying mining the coal wasn’t economical.” More: http://bit.ly/1bUUkwe

GORE: POLITICAL CLIMATE ON CLIMATE CHANGE IS CHANGING: Those gunning for taking action on climate change are outlasting “denialists,” former Vice President Al Gore told the Washington Post in an interview published yesterday. “The conversation on global warming has been stalled because a shrinking group of denialists fly into a rage when it’s mentioned. It’s like a family with an alcoholic father who flies into a rage every time a subject is mentioned and so everybody avoids the elephant in the room to keep the peace,” Gore told Wonkblog’s Ezra Klein. “But the political climate is changing. Something like Chris Hayes’s excellent documentary [aired on MSNBC last Friday] on climate change wouldn’t have made it on TV a few years ago. And as I said, many Republicans who’re still timid on the issue are now openly embarrassed about the extreme deniers.” More: http://wapo.st/1dtoWXj

DOE PUBLIC AFFAIRS CHIEF DEPARTS: Yesterday was Dan Leistikow's last day at the Energy Department, where he's been the top public affairs official since 2009, a source tells ME. He moved into his job as public affairs director the day after President Barack Obama's first inauguration, the same day former Energy Secretary Steven Chu started his tenure at the agency. ME doesn't yet know what Dan's next post will be (he was probably one too many drinks into his farewell party to return our emails) but we wish him well.

60 GW COAL TO SHUT DOWN IN 5 YEARS THANKS TO REGS — REPORT: An ICF International report says that 60 gigawatts of coal-fired power will be shut down in five years because it won’t be cost-effective to comply with greenhouse gas regulations and the low price of natural gas. EPA’s New Source Performance Standards for greenhouse gases “effectively requires” carbon capture and storage technologies for new coal plants at some point in their life, the report says. The study was requested by the Eastern Interconnection States Planning Council and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and was publicly released this week. Stimulus money from the Energy Department funded the study. http://bit.ly/19yuRba

MARKEY, WAXMAN WANT MONTREAL PROTOCOL CHIEF TO STICK AROUND: Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Henry Waxman want the UN to keep in place through 2015 its top official overseeing the Montreal Protocol so he can continue oversight of nations looking to use the treaty to phase down the use of hydrofluorocarbons. Several nations have been looking to phase out the use of HFCs, a potent greenhouse gas used in air conditioners and refrigerators, under the Montreal Protocol, which was designed to ward off further damage to the ozone layer. Earlier this year the U.S. got China on board with the effort, upping its momentum. “As the Parties begin negotiating an HFC phase-down, continuity in the leadership of the Montreal Protocol Secretariat will be very important,” the lawmakers write: http://1.usa.gov/1bTY55a

CALIFORNIA’S CAP-AND-TRADE PROGRAM SELLS OUT: Via BusinessWeek: “Trading on California carbon allowances that companies can use beginning in 2016 surged after the state sold out of the permits for the first time. … California’s Air Resources Board sold all 9.56 million permits for 2016 at $11.10 each during an Aug. 16 auction, 39 cents above the clearing price of all previous sales, the agency said in a report on its website today. Each credit allows the release of a metric ton of carbon. The board received 1.69 bids for every allowance offered, marking the first time that demand for advance permits exceeded supply since the state began capping emissions last year, creating the world’s second-largest carbon market.” BusinessWeek: http://buswk.co/151GSHT

HOUSE GOP PLANS ‘MEGA-HEARING’ ON GLOBAL WARMING: The National Journal reports that House Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield is hoping to land a number of agency heads for a “mega-hearing” on global warming — and specifically how much time and money agencies spend on the matter. Invited to the hearing (it’s not year clear who, if anyone, will come) are the heads of EPA, DOE, Interior, the departments of Transportation, Agriculture, State, Defense and Health and Human Services, NOAA, NASA, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Export-Import Bank and the U.S. Agency for International Development. NJ: http://yhoo.it/16NJAQV

LOBBYING WATCH: Playmaker Strategies LLC has signed two energy companies as lobbying clients: Covanta Energy, which operates waste-to-energy facilities, and Green Caron Inc., which recycles tires. They’ll be represented by Manning Feraci, who until a few months ago was vice president for legislative affairs at the Solar Energy Industries Association. Before that, Feraci worked for the National Biodiesel Board and was chief of staff to Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.). Larry Schafer, a former counsel to Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.), is also on the accounts. Covanta also signed a lobbying agreement recently with a former energy aid to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

IN TODAY’S FEDERAL REGISTER — FWS FINALIZES PROTECTION AREA FOR FISH: The Fish and Wildlife Service today is publishing its final rule designating 122.5 miles of river in West Virginia and Kentucky as critical habitat for the diamond darter, a small fish. According to FWS, four groups, including the West Virginia Coal Association and the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association, were critical of the rule, while several conservation groups supported it. The industry group’s argued that the area will see a surge of oil and gas drilling, but FWS says they “did not provide detailed information on trends within the oil and natural gas industry to support the comment.” The FR notice being published today: http://bit.ly/1f2DsmX

COURT UPHOLDS RULING THAT EPA, STATES WAITED TOO LONG TO GO AFTER POWER PLANT: A federal appellate court yesterday upheld a ruling saying EPA and several state regulators waited too long to make a move against a Pennsylvania power plant. From the Tribune-Review: “The Environmental Protection Agency and the environmental agencies of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania sued the current and former owners of EME Homer City Generation in 2011 for modifying the Center Township coal-fired power plant between 1991 and 1996 without installing up-to-date pollution controls. … In a precedential ruling, a three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that regulators should have filed their lawsuit within five years of the last modification instead of waiting until 2011.” More: http://bit.ly/14k1sR2

HAPPENING TODAY — NRC REVIEWS SPENT FUEL TRANSFER: The NRC is holding a meeting at 9 a.m. in Rockville, Md., to discuss recent analyses and potential regulatory action of spent fuel transfer to "dry cask" facilities as part of the agency's post-Fukushima work. The NRC's slides for the meeting: http://1.usa.gov/174rxEc. More info: http://1.usa.gov/16wTLGO.

GETTING SCHOOLED: Fred Upton may need to double-check his business cards. After House Speaker John Boehner’s intern handbook was leaked on Gawker yesterday, ME noticed the Energy and Commerce Committee chairman is listed on page 2 as chairing the “Education and Commerce” committee. (Education matters, of course, are mostly handled by the Education and the Workforce Committee.) Gawker has the manual: http://bit.ly/19JGm32

QUICK HITS

— The Federal Trade Commission is looking into assertions by Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Chuck Grassley that oil companies may be blocking more ethanol use. Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/19K8XoF

— The FBI is taking a role in the Justice Department's investigation of JPMorgan's energy trading practices, a source tells Bloomberg: http://bit.ly/14kG5zd

— A class action lawsuit has been filed against biofuels company KiOR over alleged violations of federal securities laws. WTVA: http://bit.ly/151e2r2

— Louisiana lawmakers want appropriators not to cut $7.4 million in funding for the Treasury Department to oversee distribution of money under the RESTORE Act. Times-Picayune: http://bit.ly/1d6y6dG

— A new study says Arctic warming may not actually be altering the jet stream's speed and shape. Climate Central: http://bit.ly/16xShfu

THAT’S ALL FOR ME. Have a great day.

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Authors:

About The Author

Alex Guillén is an energy reporter for POLITICO Pro, where he covers EPA, regulations and coal, as well as lobbying and campaign finance in the energy realm. He previously wrote the Morning Energy newsletter. He graduated from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., with a degree in anthropology and English. He is an avid reader and TV binger. The Delawarean, thrilled that there are finally Capriotti’s outposts in Washington, lives in Alexandria, Va.